Two Nutria Encounters

As of the 23rd May 2022 this website is archived and will receive no further updates.

understandinguncertainty.org was produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge. The aim was to help improve the way that uncertainty and risk are discussed in society, and show how probability and statistics can be both useful and entertaining.

Many of the animations were produced using Flash and will no longer work.

Went to the library, did some browsing, and selected a book to take with me on a business trip. Can't recall the title, but it was probably something in the action/adventure genre. On the plane, it caught my eye that the book mentioned an animal called a nutria. I had to pause for a second, but then remembered that it's a sort of swimming rat. I was pleased that I was able to recall that. Got to my destination (a university in south Texas) and my contact picked me up at the airport and took me out to dinner. Sitting on the outdoor deck as we ate our meal, I scanned our surroundings and something in a river that winded its way around the restaurant caught my eye. "You know what those are?" he asked. Before I could answer, he said, "They're called nutria. They have them where you're from?" I probably hadn't heard the name "nutria" for a decade or more prior to reading it in that book (I'm guessing junior high or high school) and then I heard it twice in one day, including seeing one of the little bastards!
Total votes: 295
Date submitted:Sat, 14 Mar 2020 21:55:07 +0000Coincidence ID:10410